From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsweepstakesweep‧stake /ˈswiːpsteɪk/ British English, sweepstakes American English noun [countable] 1 DGGa type of betting in which the winner receives all the money risked by everyone else2 American English a type of competition in which you have the chance to win a prize if your name is chosen3 American English a competition, election etc in which no one knows who will be the winner the presidential sweepstakes
Examples from the Corpus
sweepstake• Clare felt as if she had won a sweepstake.• Officials at Cheltenham, which stages the trial fixture on November 15, have agreed to hold sweepstakes on the races.• Since his last visit she has framed the letter that arrived with some magazine subscription sweepstakes.• Could it be one of those sweepstakes enticements that would bury me under a dune of unwanted magazines?• There are then further prizes of gold medals, the Phillips Cup and the proceeds of two sweepstakes. 